Overcoming Obstacles With Gabby Male | Q&A

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‘You can do ANYTHING you want in life. Never let anyone, or anything, get in the way of your happiness and pursuing what you love. If you believe you can do something, then you will, it is as simple as that.’ – Gabby Male

#PressForProgress

Now, more than ever, there’s a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. Every year on March 8th we come together to celebrate women and fight for equality in society. For International Women’s Day 2018, we’re showcasing female strength, and the different ways that people #pressforprogress all around the world, every day.

Luckily, we had the chance to get up-close and personal with US ambassador Gabby Male. You may follow Gabby already, but if you don’t or would like to find out more about Gabby’s motivation to strive – you know the drill.

Where did your fitness journey begin?

I was born in Salisbury, England, brought up in Granville, Ohio, and now attend college at The University of Kentucky, Lexington, NY. My fitness journey started fairly late, I was in my senior year of high school, soon after the soccer season ended. Throughout my childhood I always had coaches, parents and teammates encouraging me to be active and reach goals and I refuse to sit around – that’s when I decided to jump onboard.

Everyone has a dream body, and I really wanted to change mine. It started off great, I lost loads of weight pretty fast but unfortunately, this led me to a calorie-obsessed lifestyle, resulting in a dramatic weight loss. I started at 146lbs and in 4 months I lost 28lbs, this slowly took away my social life, my mental health and my self-confidence. I don’t believe I had an eating disorder, but I had very disordered eating.

I knew I had to change, so I changed my mindset from wanting to be small and skinny and aimed for a healthy and strong figure. Lifting heavy weights, eating more food and no longer focusing on the number shown on the scales, my fitness journey began there. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been easy, I’ve had plenty of ups and downs, but in the long-run, I’ve slowly taught myself to love my body. Lifting weights have completely changed my body and are even better for my metabolism, meaning I can eat freely without the endless guilt.

Fitness is who I am. I am strong, I am confident and I am motivated to continue my progress. You have to take risks and be open to failure, but as long as you believe in what you are doing, and have an endless passion for it, you will be successful.

How did you overcome battles?

What ultimately motivated me, and continues to motivate me on a day-to-day basis is myself. I want to prove to myself that I can become a better person each and every day, whether that is physical, mentally, or socially.

I am motivated by my own mistakes as well as my successes. I think this is extremely important because so often people will begin their journey because they want to look like that girl on Instagram. People are constantly motivated by other people (which can be great, don’t get me wrong) but you shouldn’t strive to look like someone else. Before you even begin to make any changes, you need to first shift that mindset. Instead of wanting someone else’s body, want the best version of your body.

Why shift your mindset to this? Because you will never, and can never, have someone else’s body. So why start yourself with a failing goal? Instead, imagine the best you’ve ever looked, or how you think your body would look if you lost some weight, and keep that image as your motivator and as your goal. Trying to be someone else is signing yourself up for failure, so don’t. LOVE YOURSELF.

Do you believe there's gender equality in sport?

In my eyes, I don’t believe sport or fitness holds gender equality. That being said, I personally don’t even notice it because I don’t let the fact there is a 50:1 ratio of guys to girls in the gym affect me. I’m so used to being one of the only girls picking up weights, so at this point, it doesn’t really bother me.

However, I understand the frustration that many girls currently feel. Plenty of girls ask me for advice because they’re too scared to enter their male-orientated gym. Lifting weights is strongly associated with men and this is wrong. So, my best advice to those who are struggling to hit the gym and be confident would be to grab a pair of headphones, have a plan, find a workout buddy and do your own thing.

What's your favorite exercise?

This changes all the time, but right now I have been really focusing on my glute and hamstring development because it is one of my weakest points. I love heavy glute hip thrusts as well as split squats (or Bulgarian Split Squats), any exercise where I can feel a burn makes me happy – it’s clearly working.

Have you ever struggled with self-confidence?

Absolutely. Especially at the beginning of my fitness journey. It’s so difficult to walk into a gym (as a beginner, and especially as a female in a room full of boys) and not feel awkward. It takes time, but as you begin to get a better feel for the gym, and begin to realize that everyone is there for the same reason, it becomes easier. Whenever I’ve felt self-conscious I would always make sure to have headphones, crank up some feel-good songs, and just completely focus on what’s in front of me: the weights, or placing one foot in front of the other on the treadmill.

Do you have a cheat day?

YES! Cheat days/meals are essential to adhering to your plan and keeping the results long term. I really preach having balance in my diet. I want to be on track most days, but some days you have to enjoy time with friends and family! And come on, who can say no to pizza?

I have a huge sweet tooth too, so anything chocolate related is hard to resist. I’, also a sucker for ice cream.

Who's inspired you throughout your journey?

I LOVE Marilyn Monroe. She was such an amazing figurehead to women, she’s taught women to embrace their bodies no matter their shape or size, and she always preached self-love, which is something I want my social media to portray.

Do you think social media helps with self-motivation?

Yes, I think that social media can be an amazing tool to help motivate people, as well as connect them to people with similar interests. I have found some of my best friends through social media. There is a fine line though. You have to make sure you are staying true to yourself, and not allowing it to consume you.

Just never forget why you started your social media, and don’t ever let online happiness overtake physical and real happiness!

How do you balance your social life and training?

This one is difficult, but it takes practice and time to figure out what works best for you and your lifestyle. I really try to make sure I prioritize my day, every day. I think about what needs to be done first and what is the most important thing for that day and go from there.

Since I’m in college, school sometimes does have to come before training and my social life, but there are other days where all I want to do is train, and I’ll put school work to the side. However, there are the weekends where I just want to let loose with my friends and be a regular college kid.

I think it is necessary to be totally honest with yourself and make sure you aren’t obsessing and dedicating too much time to one thing. All of these aspects (family, school, training, and friends) mean the world to me, so I want to be sure I spend my time wisely, so being organized also helps!

I also make sure I have time to watch Friends, I just love how funny, outgoing and happy they all are, it’s so inspiring. Whatever mood I am in, Friends makes me feel-good instantly – I definitely recommend it.